Most people on here say practice them on a trampoline or into a pool. Also, use the "search" function...There are a ton of threads about starting flips.

What I did was, trampoline it . I did my first frontflip on a trampoline, I think I just did it. You can't really hurt your head much. Backflips I learned off of a diving board, I tried a back dive, over rotated, then I tried a backflip and it worked. Remember to load up on the tutorials. Backflips on trampolines took me like 2 years to be brave enough to try it. Then I pushed off the side and landed near the edge so I was done doing backflips for another year or two. If you have access to a gymnasium and crash mats they help a lot. I had to relearn backflips on a trampoline after I thought I had them down because I clipped my feet on the netting because I was moving back.

So this is how I learned them (if I remember):

1.) Start out walking up near the edge of the trampoline, push up and off of your leg, look over your shoulder. Get comfortable with that.
2.) Then I leaned backflips to side flips is what I called them. basically is that you walk up (about a step) jump, look over your shoulder while going back. you end up doing a side flip.
3.) Once your comfortable with those try doing them without the walk up, its a it more scary.
4.) This is pretty much the point where you just have to go for it. If your just pushing off the edge all you have to do is look backwards. You will go really far on your trampoline, so I don't suggest it if you have a circle one.
5.) Work standing backflips, or with a few small jumps. Kind of throw your hips foward and look backwards. You throw your hips froward before. It'll take a it off tweaking before you get it right.

REMEMBER TO LOAD UP ON TUTORIALS AND VISUALIZE YOUR SELF DOING THEM!!! VISUALIZE YOURSELF DOING THEM WITH PERFECT FORM! Many people skip that, but it helped me a lot!

Just get some grass, and throw it. It's ground level, so as long as you get over your neck, you won't injure yourself. It may hurt, but grow a pair. Get up and try again.

Concentrate on jumping up, and tuck hard!! Also, run fast (if frontflip).

Also, dive rolls are stupid imo, just teaches you to jump into the ground. Which will hurt in a frontflip

hmm this helped cure my fear a bit because I used to jump straight up and twist my body over in dive rolls and basically land vertical and roll perfectly. Now I do it straight out. Hmm... maybe I can do flips after all....

yeah i learned on trampoline when i was about 8 and fearless, after a couple years of that i got courage to do it on the ground... i got my parents to spot me and that really helped. after 2 days of that i got back tucks down. they spotted using 2 towels and twisted them. (im not going to explain the whole process just look it up).. then i broke my ankle skateboarding like an idiot. i can do them again now after a couple months of taking tumbling classes at my local YMCA.. they really help you get it good and have nice form. i would recommend taking classes as it makes you have more motivation and better coaching than youtube videos. thats just my opinion

Nice idea! good way to meet chicks too

Find mats to practice on.

And if you can't, do what I'm stuck doing, and wait until it snows (If it does where you live) so you can learn new moves without risk.

i learned of of a trampoline, then mover to doing it self taught technique (youtube lol) with a mattres for a mat, then i just got more and more punch, now i can do some sick front flips and backflips, go to a tumbling class is works magic